Of Stopwatches, Lists and Discoveries
by LadyBootstrap
Summary: Whilst searching the hub Owen comes across a notebook this proves to be a mistake. Oneshot. Very, very, very, very slightly implied slash it's all in your mind. Set sometime after 'They Keep Killing'. Rating for swearing and implied themes.


**Of Stopwatches, lists and discoveries.**

Owen swivelled round on his chair absentmindedly. His hangover had cleared up but with the rest of the team having gone to chase up an 'alien sighting' he found himself wishing for the pain to return. He wasn't a masochist (Well, unless a girl wanted him to be.) but at least a headache gave him something to think about. Without it he didn't know what to do. Jack had effectively locked him in the hub and Toshiko had blocked all porn sites on the computers.

Again.

It had taken him ages to find a way to bypass the blocks last time and now he just couldn't be bothered. The only stuff he could find was some creepy Japanese shit that even made _him _gag. As if his nightmares weren't bad enough- now he'd have to put up with those images in his head.

He shook his head and tried to think of something different but all he could think about was tentacles and school girls. Owen jumped off the chair and anxiously searched for something, _anything _to distract himself. His eyes darted around the room looking at everyone's work stations in desperation. All he could see was rubbish: some pens, files, sweet wrappers, a notebook, a slice of pizza-

A notebook.

Owen practically bounded to the table sweeping the notebook up in thankfulness. He silently prayed it wouldn't be empty. The book was opened but he let out an audible sigh when he saw the writing. It was Ianto's. Torchwood's own Mr Boring. Even his writing was immaculate and unchanging. A tidy script which made Owen's rushed notes look like abstract art. In other words it was neat, too neat in Owen's opinion. He found himself wondering is his ex-girlfriend hadn't been the only robot in their relationship.

His thoughts were abruptly cut short when he noticed the title of one of the pages. It was so utterly random it threw Owen of a little- what sort of person would write about that. The title, which headed a list, clearly stated:

'_50 things to do with a Stopwatch'_

Owen frowned and glanced at the list; it took up several pages and looked quite detailed. Weighing up his options his instincts told him that reading the list would be better for his sanity than letting his mind wander again. The chair wobbled violently as he dumped his body onto it. With another sigh he began to read the list.

_Later_

Gwen strode into the hub, picking up a cold pizza slice from the night before and sitting herself down. Owen was sat on another chair; even though his back was facing her he didn't look well.

'I take it the hangover hasn't cleared up yet.' She joked and took a bite out of the pizza.

There was no reply.

'Bloody hell- for once it wasn't a false alarm! I never thought there were so many false alien sightings in Cardiff before taking this job. According to Jack the alien was only a pet! Couldn't even communicate with us. So it took us a while to get it secure and everything, but the others will be back soon and...' Gwen trailed off mid-sentence, noticing the usually talkative Owen hadn't said a word.

She got up and slowly walked over to him. He was staring at the wall, clutching a notebook in one of his hands.

'Have you heard a word I've said?' She asked in her distinctive welsh lilt.

Owen turned to face her, his face contorted with confusion. There also seemed to be some underlying feel of shock about him but Gwen couldn't place her finger on it. Gwen took a deep intake of breath and stepped backwards.

'That's some hangover- I'll go and hang my coat up; you have a lie down… Or something.'

She walked away quickly leaving Owen looking at the notebook in his hand. He carefully placed it back on the desk and made his way towards his own workstation and sat down. His instincts were definitely not to be trusted. He turned to his computer and went back to the Japanese porn sites. They gave him some comfort but didn't erase the images that that list had forced into his mind.

He would never look at Ianto the same way again.

Or stopwatches for that matter…

THE END

A/N This was supposed to be a very, very short humorous ficlet but it sort of expanded. I mean no offence to people who like manga, sexual or not but I felt Owen would view such things with disgust. I want to write some proper Janto but this would not get out of my head so I wrote it. This takes place sometime after 'They keep killing' and is probably a bit OOC


End file.
